1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computing systems; and, more particularly, it relates to protection of operating systems and application data within computing systems.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Conventional programs and methods that seek to, provide for disk protection and recovery of a computing system are intrinsically available to a user of the computing system. Such conventional programs and methods are installed by a user of the computing system and are easily available to the user. Sometimes, the user performs some modification of the actual conventional program or method that itself seeks to prevent catastrophic operating system failure of the computing system and to recover the operating system of the computing system after some hard disk crash. Examples of instances where a user performs some undesirable modification of the operating system of the computing system that disables the computing system and prevents its operation.
Moreover, when the program or method that is used to prevent this collapse of the operating system of the computing system is easily visible or accessible to the user of the computing system, that program or method can itself be undesirably corrupted by the user. For example, when a user desires to xe2x80x9cclean upxe2x80x9d certain portions of the hard disk of the computing system, the user oftentimes goes through and deletes certain files within the hard disk without a great deal of caution or care. Such an instance would be a user-generated completion to the operating system of the computing system. The inherent installation of conventional programs and methods that seek to provide for disk protection and recovery, in that they are easily available or accessible to the user of the computing system, may themselves be corrupted by the very user of the computing system whose computing system is meant to be xe2x80x9cprotected.xe2x80x9d
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.
Various inventive aspects can be found in an operating system and data protection system that is operable within a computing system. The operating system and data protection system contains, among other things, a computing system having a memory and an operating system. The operating system can execute a number of commands that are directed to the memory.
Certain aspects include a method of accessing data in locations of a memory in a computer system. The method comprises receiving a write access command directed to a first location, determining whether said first location is identified as protected, if said first location is identified as protected, determining a second location that is not identified as protected, re-directing the write access command to said second location, receiving a subsequent write access command directed to said first location, and re-directing said subsequent write access command to a third location that is not identified as protected.
In additional aspects, the method further comprises receiving at least one read access command directed to said first location, and re-directing said at least one read access command to said third location. Further aspects include the method wherein determining a second location that is not identified as protected further comprises determining a second location that is identified as available. Additional aspects include the method wherein said third location is identified as available.
Further aspects include the method wherein said memory is a disk drive and said locations are sectors. Additional aspects include the method wherein determining a second location that is not identified as protected further comprises determining a second location that is identified as available. Still further aspects include the method wherein said third location is identified as available. Additional aspects include the method wherein said memory is a disk drive. Certain other aspects include the method wherein said locations are sectors.
Additional aspects include a computer system for accessing data in locations of a memory in a computer system. The computer system comprises a driver configured to perform the steps as described in the various aspects of the method above.